Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner has rejected calls for the Port of Darwin to be returned to Australian hands.
Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese has called for the port to be returned to Australian hands as the government imposes sweeping new laws that would give it the power to veto state and territory deals with foreign governments. The controversial deal was finalised in 2015, with the port being leased to Chinese company Landbridge for 99 years.
Mr Gunner said he was initially opposed to the sale, but has since praised the deal as a great example of cooperation between Australia and China. The federal government has made it clear the proposed legislation would not block the lease of the Darwin port because its new powers are about government-to-government agreements and not commercial arrangements.
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Albanese’s call to cancel Port of Darwin lease an ‘insincere attack on the government’ | Sky News AustraliaLiberal Senator James Paterson says the opposition leader’s call to seriously review the lease of the Port of Darwin was insincere and most likely just a “device to attack the government”.\n\n“This government has done more than any other to really robustly defend Australia’s sovereignty, national interest, and values,” Mr Paterson told Sky News host Chris Kenny.\n\nOpposition Leader Anthony Albanese on Sunday called on the Morrison government to look at the sale of the port of Darwin to a Chinese company, considering the recently proposed national security legislation.\n\nAccording to Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese will push an amendment to move for the cancellation of the $506 million leasing of the Port of Darwin.\n\n“I’m not sure he’s sincerely proposing that,” Mr Paterson said.\n\n“The lease of the Port of Darwin to a state linked enterprise was a mistake.\n\n“But significant changes have been made to our foreign investment framework to ensure that if a deal like that was proposed today, the chances of it being approved are, if not zero, then very close to zero.”\n\nImage: AP
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